(Reuters) - Foreign investors continued purchasing Japanese stocks in the week to April 12, driven by a weaker yen and robust performance in chip-related stocks.
They secured stocks worth 829.05 billion yen ($5.37 billion) worth during the week, following net purchases of 829.45 billion yen in the previous week, data from stock exchanges showed.
Foreigners poured about 233.5 billion yen into derivative contracts, marking their first weekly net purchase in five. Japanese cash equity markets also attracted about 595.5 billion yen of overseas capital.
The technology sector, particularly chip stocks, buoyed the Nikkei, which registered a 1.36% jump last week. Tokyo Electron climbed 6%, while Lasertec rose approximately 9.5%.
However, the Nikkei has lost 3.65% this week amd geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, a sell-off in Wall Street and profit booking by domestic investors.
Still, the index rose 0.31% on Thursday as chip stocks rebounded from early losses and bank stocks rallied.
In the bond market, foreign investors purchased about 50.7 billion yen in long-term Japanese bonds last week, a reversal from net sales of 348.9 billion yen the week prior, as per Ministry of Finance data.
However, short-term Japanese debt securities experienced a substantial net outflow of 3.8 trillion yen, contrasting with significant net inflows the previous week.
Japanese domestic investors sold about 1 trillion yen in long-term foreign bonds, marking the second net sale in three weeks.
However, they bought 5.2 billion yen in short-term debt instruments, breaking a three-week selling streak.
They also bought 53.9 billion yen of overseas equities after two consecutive weeks of net selling.
($1 = 154.2700 yen)